Category World News

In a contentious encounter where a faulty Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system caused controversy, Barcelona lost their first points in La Liga this season as Rayo Vallecano fought back to earn a 1-1 draw at home to the champions.

After Lamine Yamal’s 40th-minute penalty had given Barca an early lead, Rayo substitute Fran Perez snuck home a 67th-minute equaliser.

Due to the malfunctioning VAR, Pep Chavarria’s challenge on Yamal, which resulted in the award of the spot kick, could not be reviewed because the system was not in use at the time.

Yamal’s thigh was actually touched by Chavarria, but the penalty award could have been overturned based on investigation.

Both teams were informed of the malfunctioning system at kickoff, but Rayo’s vigorous protests over Mateo Busquets’ decision made sure the rest of the game at Vallecas Stadium was played in a gloomy setting.

Every subsequent decision that went against their side indignant home supporters sounded angry.

At the conclusion of a week in which the Barcelona suburbs claimed a place in the Conference League group phase on their return to Europe after 24 years, the goalkeeper Joan Garcia made several outstanding stops to deny and/or deny Rayo.

In the 12th minute, Garcia made a point-blank save to stop Andrei Ratiu, and he spectacularly blocked Isi Palazon’s attempts to score a breakaway goal and Jorge de Frutos’ breakaway.

In the final minute, substitute Sergio Camello had the opportunity to win the game for Rayo, but he miscued his shot with the mercy of the goal, allowing a grateful Garcia to quickly gather.

Soon after teenager Yamal’s penalty had given Barca an early lead, Daniel Olmo was guilty of missing a simple goal. Olmo’s crossbar strike soared over the top of the crossbar from close range, causing furious coach Hansi Flick to yell out in rage.

Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao are the only two clubs with a 100% record after three La Liga games, despite Real Madrid having won their opening two games. From their campaign openers, Rayo have four points.

The Seattle Sounders defeated Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami 3-0 to reach the 2025 Leagues Cup final, and Alex Roldan scored from the penalty spot late in the second half and added an assist in the first half.

A melee involving several players from both teams occurred at the final whistle, which ended the match on Sunday. Luis Suarez, a Miami striker, appeared to be one of the players in the middle of the melee, and video cameras captured him spitting at a Seattle staff member after the game.

Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX jointly hold the Leagues Cup, which results in a disciplinary panel that is uncontracted from either league or continental federation. Although MLS might also be involved, it would likely be in charge of deciding whether to discipline the incident.

Seattle, which won its second Concacaf award and ninth all-time major trophy since MLS play began in 2009, scored Osaze De Rosario’s fourth goal of the tournament.

The Sounders’ victory in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, which ends a string of 16 consecutive Mexican champions, is their first since they defeated Mexico’s Pumas UNAM in a two-leg victory.

In the final moments of a victory, Paul Rothrock scored the third, giving Seattle a first-round bye into the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Miami lost their second League Cup title after winning the 2023 competition and their third major trophy since Messi’s arrival during the summer of the 2023 season.

If they fail to win the MLS Cup in 2025, the Herons will still be guaranteed a spot in the Concacaf next year. However, they will start in the first round.

Seattle held the lead in the opening minute and won admirably so in the 26th.

De Rosario met it with a decisive header after Jesus Ferreira played the opening ball out wide to Roldan on the right.

Suarez provided the link-up play for Miami, who wasted two excellent chances to equalize just before the break.

Suarez sent a spinning cutback pass to Messi, who arrived just above the six-yard box, but the Argentinian star fired over goalkeeper Andrew Thomas in the 50th minute.

Tadeo Allende then sent his strike wide of the right post as Thomas slammed off his line in the 60th minute, despite Suarez’s clever backheel.

Georgi Minoungou, a substitute for the Sounders, scored from the left of the field in the 82nd minute to make the cost of that. Yannick Bright was chasing back to defend when Minoungou made a cutback and was snuck into Bright’s sliding challenge.

A 69, 314-person crowd at Lumen Field, which is a Leagues Cup and club single-game attendance record, were pampered by Roldan’s coolly converted penalty that was past Oscar Ustari in the 84th minute to lift the lid on the match.

At a gathering of a security bloc that Beijing has hailed as an alternative to the Western-led international order, Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged regional leaders to oppose “Cold War mentality.”

As the world becomes “chaotic and intertwined,” Xi said in a speech to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit attendees on Monday.

Looking back, Xi said, “We have succeeded by cultivating the Shanghai spirit despite turbulent times.”

We must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit, keep our feet on the ground, forge ahead, and better carry out the roles of the organization as the world shifts and transforms.

The bloc should work toward the development of a “more just and equitable global governance system,” Xi said, calling for “equal and orderly multipolarization” of the world.

The Chinese leader stated that this year, Beijing would give member states 280 million yuan ($80 million) in aid, and a further 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in loans to a SCO banking consortium.

“We must exploit the mega-scale market to improve the facilitation of trade and investment,” Xi said.

More than 20 world leaders are present at the two-day SCO summit, which kicked off on Sunday in Tianjin, China’s northern city, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was founded in 2001, expanded to 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer nations, beginning with six Eurasian nations and its founding in 2001.

According to state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a brand-new missile manufacturing process and production line.

His visit to the missile production line on Sunday came ahead of a s planned trip  to Beijing to observe a military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs were developed in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and they are subject to severe international sanctions.

In response to Russia’s and China’s growing economic, military, and political support, experts and international officials claim that the sanctions have lost much of their impact.

According to Kim, the modernized production process will help boost the combat readiness of major missiles, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.

To support Moscow in its conflict with Ukraine, North Korea has sent soldiers, artillery, and missiles to Russia.

The US’s cooperation with Japan and South Korea was also criticized by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which recently issued a trilateral joint statement warning of cybersecurity threats from Pyongyang.

The ministry “strongly denounces and rejects” the United States, Japan, and South Korea for using cyberspace as a “theatre of geopolitical confrontation and hostile propaganda,” according to a spokesperson in a statement released by KCNA.

The spokesperson added, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, “The more the US continues to perpetuate its anachronistic and malicious hostile acts against the DPRK through the intensified collaboration with its satellite countries, the more distrust and hostility will build up.”